Summer Reading & Slideshow

Yesterday was U.S. Labor Day, which marks the unofficial end to summer - at least in my country of origin. With Summer unofficially over (officially: it's 90 degrees out!), I thought I'd share a few books and pictures of our summer.

I felt in order to make this worth your while I had to find an different way to talk about reading (as it is "let's talk about what I read" can come off a bit egotistical). Thus, I'm going to organize the five books I used to ignore other people during the month of July  like a basketball team. I'll link the book if you are interested.

The Point Guard. Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God by Joe Thorn.

Point Guards start the offense and get the team going in the right direction. This daily

devotional focuses 15 readings on the Father, 20 on the Son, 15 on the Holy Spirit. They are entirely God-centered with titles like "He is listening"; "He is love"; "His Reign"; "He indwells." These daily devotionals got my day going and distributed strength when I needed it the most (in a home with 38 other persons, for instance). Point guards are also small; this book can fit in your back pocket.

Unique because: Thorn encourages the practice of preaching to oneself. Not so much self-improvement but self-talk, which turns out isn't crazy but biblical (see Psalm 116:7; Psalm 42:5). This book forced me to remind myself who God is and who I am in relation to Him. I usually just scorn myself, so this was a more helpful use of my self-directed inner rants.

Best line: Under the chapter "His Hold" describing the Son - "John 10:28 is not a promise of live without wavering or wandering. You can backslide. You have before. But the good work that Jesus began in you will continue. You faith will continue. And these things will go on not because of your commitment but because of Jesus' faithfulness."

The Shooting Guard. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. 

Shooting Guards are require the ball a lot and shoot the ball way too much, but because they are so graceful to watch (like eye candy!) you don't mind that they waste your time. My most enjoyable reading - the kind you do in a hammock or steal away when you should probably be paying attention to your child playing near water- was spent on this N.Y. Times Bestseller. 

Unique because: It's the kind of book that you regret is coming to a close with each page turn and wish you could experience again for the first time - like a first rollercoaster, first kiss, or first taste of cotton candy. Written by a Christian man, Enger writes beautifully about life, sin, redemption in a way that is thrilling not preachy, relatable not religious - using riveting characters from 1960s rural America.

Best Line: "I can feel it still, that sizzling jump inside my organs. It didn't feel good, not as I would've suspected the touch of the Lord might feel, but I wouldn't say it felt bad either. It only felt powerful, like truth unhusked."

The Small Forward. 1776 by David McCollough.

Small forwards in basketball play important roles in determining a game with their grit and hustle but they are often enigmatic (see Ron Artest, who legally changed his name to "Metta World Peace."). Such is my home country, the United States of America. Some major changes have taken place in my nation of citizenship that have caused friends and family to question how "we got here." Inspired by a father-son trip to Washington, D.C. with my youngest son, I decided to read a book focused on the events of and leading up to our revolutionary war.

Unique because: It's 'Merica! Author of modern democracy and inventor of fried oreos.

Best line: "And if his youth was obvious, the Glorious Cause was to a large degree a young man's cause. The commander in chief of the army, George Washington, was himself only forty-three. John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, was thirty-nine, John Adams, forty, Thomas Jefferson, thirty-two. In such times many were being cast in roles seemingly beyond their experience or capacities."

The Power Forward. Becoming Worldly Saints: Can you serve Jesus and still enjoy your life? by Michael Wittmer.

Power forwards are big and strong - getting a lot done with seemingly little effort. Rebounding, scoring, blocking shots while having fun doing it. Such is this book. I live in the Cayman Islands. Just look at the front cover of the book - I'm pretty sure it was an artist rendering of the beach from which I live just 100 yards. I have those sunglasses! Thus, I live with people who ask (or should be asking!) this very question: Can I serve

Jesus and still enjoy my life? 

Unique because: A potent combination of (1) Funny; (2) Weighty with good biblical content (correcting the Christian's common "spiritual = better" worldview); (3) Doesn't require you to give up your job in finance or marketing to follow Jesus (or feel like a 1st class Christian).

Best Line: "Heaven and earth may seem to compete, but when we look deeper we actually find they are complementary. A flourishing human life is the best advertisement for the gospel, and the gospel in turn empowers us to become better people."

The Center. Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion by Os Guinness. 

Centers are a team's anchor. They force the other teams to take bad shots and have "their teammates" backs if something goes wrong. And in the NBA they often speak with accents that are very difficult for me to understand. No book was as important for me to read as this one - which gave practical advice from a lifelong persuader like Os Guinness. Guinness has spent his life trying to persuade smart people towards the good news about Jesus and with the good news about Jesus. This is his magnum opus - sharing from decades of experience of how you can help people question their assumptions and see the ultimate futility of how they view the world. Like a Lithuanian Center, Guinness is at times difficult to understand - what I mean is he is brilliant, writing with significant depth - making this a time-consuming, 1 minute per page kind of read.

Unique because: Guinness writes not just why Christianity is most reasonable but suggests strategies as to how you and I can demonstrate just that to a not-yet-Christian in a 1-on-1 relationship.

Best Line: "As Reinhold Niebuhr insisted, there is a limit to what even the power of God can do as power alone, for 'such power does not reach the heart of a rebel.' Power can fence us in, but only sacrificial love can find us out. Power can win when we are ranged against it, but it cannot win us. Such is the hard, tenacious, willful, festering core of sin at the heart of each one of us that only the equally deliberate, tenacious love disguised in the absurd powerlessness, shame, pain, loneliness and desolation of the cross -- all for us-- could reach us and subvert us."

I write this because I hope you will find time to read - and perhaps one of these books might be helpful to you. Now a couple pictures from our summer.

Summer Reading & Pics

Hi friends. It's good to be back on Grand Cayman (a.k.a. "The Rock"). Katie, the boys, and I enjoyed our time on leave immensely. So good, even while there were some adventures -- see near death in lightning storm, the leg infection from a dirty/overpopulated river, and a chigger bite infestation all of which were superfluously (and, frankly, needlessly) covered in my first sermon back. The four weeks away were capped off wonderfully by time away at a Bed and Breakfast with my bride as her sister watched the chillins'. I am just so grateful for my closest friend in life and ministry!

Did a lot of livin', lovin', and readin' during the trip -- so a brief summary of each below (the "lovin'" is subjective and open to interpretation). First pictures, then Books.

Summer Pics.

Kiawah Island. A home away from home &
site of the 2012 PGA Golf Championship
(won on Sunday by Rory McIlroy )

Beach Olympics. Gage & his cousin Andy go 3-legged against
Mason and his younger cousin Lincoln, who've lost their 'rope'
(notice: it is really a bungee cord my father found in his garage).

Fourth of July Parade. With electricity in Cayman costing
way too much for Christmas decor, Fourth of July afford
us our next best chance to be tacky and gaudy.

One of FOUR trees that fell in my sister and I's path during a lighting storm. Really, Lord?! Four?!

July 15. 2:04:05 pm 

July 15. 2:04:10 pm
("5 typical seconds in the ever-changing life of my youngest son")

Flexing before Ziplining
(Mason, cousins Marlow and Moriah) 

Father-Son Trip to D.C.
(at Nat'l Zoo - see Panda in background)

Father-son Baseball Trip

How gangsta is this pic?! Cousin Eliot looking cool,
Mason flashing gang signs, Cousin Jemma with the hardcore spit.

Summer Reading.

My favorite book of the Summer was Dianne Severance's Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History. And if that makes you feel awkward, imagine the many looks and comments I received/endured from family and friends as I sported this book whose cover features an image tantamount to an Audrey Heburn silhouette on the beach, hammock, etc. Hint: They were not favorable toward my masculinity. But it was well worth it. I love history. But let's face it: Most history from 0-1950 A.D., both history in general or church history, is very masculine in its focus. And I'm not going to comment on whether that's a travesty or conspiracy nor argue that we need to rewrite all of history. However, I felt it was worthwhile for Katie and I (and those to whom I minister) to potentially benefit from the many lives of women who contributed to the spread of the gospel to the four corners of the earth, in their neighborhoods, and, most importantly, in their own households. It was awesome. In fact, I've ordered some copies and will be putting them on sale in our church lobby. Dianne Severance does an excellent job of combining historical accuracy with readability. I found the first 50-75 pages a bit dry, but after that I found it to be an absolute page-turner. 

Mason and I did the Narnia thing this Summer - specifically Prince Caspian (the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series...and the most natural sequel to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe). This was the first time I can recall Mason saying, during a break, "Dad, I really like this story. I can't wait to pick it up again." Here are a couple of my favorite moments.

At the end of feasting led by the god Bacchus but in the presence of Aslan, Lucy notes to Susan at the close of one chapter, "I should be afraid of Bacchus, if Aslan wasn't here." It's a profound statement really. Bacchus is the Roman god of making merry (ie. partying). Yet he makes his way into a Christian children's book. How? Because Aslan is present. Partying for its own sake or for the sake of self-indulgence is a fearful thing to these girls because even they know at their young age that it causes self-destruction, causes one to become less human. But merriment/party-making is itself relished by God when done for Him, through Him, and by Him. Thus, in Aslan's presence, the joy and merriment is pure and allows one to be more free to take pleasure in it.

A second moment is when Lucy reacquaints herself with the great lion, Aslan (who represents Jesus in the story), having not visibly seen him in some time:

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?" 
"I am not, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

A third Book I had opportunity to read was Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It was the fascinating life story of an wunderkind Olympic runner who becomes a WWII bombadeer. Louis Zamperini's plane and crew crash over the Pacific. His story of survival that ensues is really quite inspiring. 

Finally, I was blessed to read Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God by an 'up-and-coming' young pastor named David Platt. His church's story of sacrifice from a place of comfort is quite encouraging and challenging. His chapter pinpointing the need sacrifice comfort to reach unreached people groups specifically is compelling.

Summer Reading & Summer Pics

I don't know about you, but Summer Reading used to immediately bring to mind: "Come on, do I really have to read Where the Red Fern Grows?!" (Incidentally, I think my best summer reading experience was the Summer I read Hatchet  - 13 y. old survives a plane crash and survives for 45 days in the wilderness using only a hatchet - he was the original Bear Grylls). Anywho, nowadays the summer reading experience is something I look forward to. So I thought I'd sally forth what I read this summer along with description - feel free to post back with any gems from your list.


#1 - Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer. 464 pages. I've read so much of Lewis but have never read a full-length biography of his. Sayer knew Lewis well. Things I learned about Lewis - He was one lusty bloke before he put his faith in Christ. Sayers goes into this in some detail. Honestly, had Lewis been in his 20s while living in our era, he'd most likely be attracted to some hard core stuff on the web (if you know what I mean). He was so attracted to beauty, especially the beauty of a woman, that he greatly indulged in it vis-a-vis his thought life. When J.R.R. Tolkien explained Christ as the reality behind the beauty (or "myth"), Lewis found his heart's true home. But it was his penchant for passions and the constant struggle to focus on Christ as the object of His passions and pleasure with which I could most relate to Lewis. He struggled with co-dependency, was an incredibly faithful friend, and tirelessly, but quietly, cared for those in need. And, if you've ever watched the movie Shadowlands (Anthony Hopkins) which chronicles the end of Lewis' life dealing with the death of his wife, the book provides a more accurate and detailed handling of that time period (In the movie, Lewis is nebulously portrayed as having given up his faith, whereas in real-life, his struggle was more like that of the Psalmists - moving from despair toward hope and thanksgiving).

#2 - A Proverbs-Driven Life by Anthony Selvaggio. 201 pages. I read Proverbs in conjunction with 1 Corinthians over the Summer (the theme of wisdom being paramount in both). Thus, this book was a handy guide. Great chapters on friendship, making wise choice of a spouse, marital faithfulness, and childrearing. 


#3 - Autobiography of George Mueller, or a Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer. George Mueller is known for setting up scores of Orphanages throughout England in the early to mid 1800s. But what's truly remarkable about this man is his prayer life. I kept writing in the margins: "Didn't leave God alone" "Didn't leave God alone" (x20). And as a result, God did not leave George Mueller alone. If you want to be inspired in your prayer life with both a lofty and authentic example, try this on for size. You can also read a shorter version which has compiled "highlights" of his autobiography - it's called Answers to Prayer. And, yeah, he had a neck beard...and pulled it off!

#4 - The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson.272 pages. I don't just read stuff from the Family Christian Book Stores (besides, those places are kind of a rip-off, unless you like "Testa-mints"). I love to read about what makes people tick - why people do/think/feel as they do. Does your boss (or pastor??) demonstrate: Glibness/superficial charm, Grandiose sense of self-worth, Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom. These are the first three items on the Psychopath Test developed by Bob Hare and utilized around the world to help identify psychopaths and sociopaths. Jon Ronson, a journalist who also wrote The Men who Stare at Goats, is hilarious as he attempts to hunt down and speak with psychopaths, tries to figure out what's legit in the madness industry, attempts to ascertain if he's a psychopath, and discovers that CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies are far more likely to be psychopaths than your average Joe or Josephine.


Okay enough of that, I promised the peeps of Sunrise Community Church some pictures from our Oelschlager Summer Adventures (Grandiose sense of self-worth??):

Ziplining with Katie's side of family (Yes, all those people are related)

Mason's first time surfing.

Katie tubing on North Carolina's Dan River. Gage overwhelmed by life preserver.
River-tubing in the U.S. South has quite a clientele let me tell you.

Boogie-board Racing with my Dad
(he had a head start..I eventually won...should I really be writing about this?)

At one point, there were 10 children in this inflatable pool which was tenuously held up by duct tape
as the children continuously (and joyously?) walked in a synchronized circle.

U.S. Independence Day Celebration (4th of July).
We never really seemed to ride the bikes - just walked them along in a hot, slow death march.
Yes, I'm related to a (young) Uncle Sam

Bros.

Confessions of a Chronological Snob

Be honest, would you buy this book (see Right)? If I set out 10 books on the topic of prayer & included this one among choices of books that were all written within the last decade, would you honestly go with this one? Most of us who see a hard cover or jacket cover from something that predates our birth would consider buying it but only to look smart or as decorative "filler" for our homes. If (like this one) it looks likes it's from the 1970s, we typically avoid it like the bubonic plague. Why is that? Why do we overlook these books when we're making the crucial choice as to what we're going to dedicate the following week(s) or month(s) of leisure time? I'm going to seek to explain why this is the case for me, but first...

Did you watch the movie National Treasure? It starred polarizing actor Nicolas Cage (I know 10 people who love him & 10 people who'd like to subject him to water boarding). There's a moment in the movie when Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is examining the Declaration of Independence. He then turns to his archeological partner, Abigail (you'll forget her real name even if I mention it), and he says to her upon audibly reading a portion of the 18th century document, "People don't talk like that anymore."

It's meant to be a serious moment, but ironically it only lets you dwell on the moment for 2 1/2 seconds before you're wisked away to the next action scene. I say, "ironically" because the many modern obstacles to "dwelling" on anything have made it close to impossible to "talk like that anymore." I don't subscribe to the theory that older books or writings were written by smarter people (although some were), by people with more conservative values (although some had), or by a generation that wrote more effectively (although some did).

One thing we have inevitably & increasingly lost is the time to to dwell & think. Every generation since the Industrial Revolution has felt the pressure of less & less time in increasing measure. Certainly, you know this in your own life. Consider: A person of the 19th century (when the above book was written) looking to communicate with a friend about his life. He thinks, "I'll send him a letter." So he sends it and he waits. He walks home that night or perhaps takes a buggy, all the time thinking, thinking, pondering a decision. Typically, it would take well over a week for such a letter to both arrive at a destination 300 miles away & incite a response that is received in turn. A week -- to think, to consider, to ponder. Now, you drive home at night and you talk on the phone (or, if you're a textaholic, you shoot a couple texts -- of course, only at red lights...of course); you wait in line, you text a friend; you're listening to someone, you check the score of a game or comment on a posted picture to your friend's Facebook page. None of these are inherently evil; heck, I'd miss them all were they gone.

But understand: Also gone is the time to think & ponder. The great 20th century poet, T.S. Eliot wrote in Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, "Where shall the word be found / Where shall the word resound / Not here / There is not enough silence." So much noise, and not just audible. It takes a remarkably disciplined & painstaking approach to make thoughtfulness & its cousin, depth, a reality. Even if you're well-read & listen, do you give yourself time like men and women of old to consider & think on thoughts, chew on new ideas, & ponder beliefs?

Not really. And so I find it difficult to relate to people who do such things. And it's not just the "Thee's" & "Thou's" older authors employ, it's the complexity of sentence, the connecting of things that our minds can no longer see unless their organized into neat

• Bullet
• Points

(I'm wondering if your eyes skipped ahead to the Bullet points...mine would too).

And so, perhaps a child of my age, I'm what C.S. Lewis called, "A Chronological Snob."

My understanding of "chronological snobbery" is dismissing the usefulness & validity of an idea, a book, a product (see technology) because it is old and no longer commonly adhered to/read/used/accepted by society-at-large.

C.S. Lewis, in his autobiographical account of his salvation Surprised by Joy, gives us some warning about practicing "chronological snobbery":

[Chronological snobbery contains] the assumption that whatever has gone out of date has, on that account, been discredited. You must find out why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, it tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack them or feels it necessary to defend them.

If you consider that one hundred years from now, most people will likely look at books from our "period" and pass them over as irrelevant in communicating truth, beauty, & relevant feeling, then doesn't or shouldn't it give us pause to consider why exactly we're adhering to only writing &, thus, ideas of our own era.

If we both want to rid of our chronological snobbery & locate a starting place to grow in depth, perhaps we ought to start with a book from a century other than the 20th or 21st. I'm trying this right now with a couple books now. And what stands out is not even the content so much, but, again, the way in which some of these authors write. It forces one to ponder, grapple and 'look' for connections that are foreign to newer companions on my bookshelf. If I don't stop and think, the consequence is I don't really understand it, I lose access to the meaning. So, in a sense, this 'dusty jacket' reading is forcing me to take time that I otherwise wouldn't to do some pondering. In fact, I'm reading the book pictured above and God has used it to grow me. Why don't you join me. I'll have five copies of With Christ in the School of Prayer (written by 19th century South African Pastor/Missionary, Andrew Murray) on the Book table at Sunday Worship this weekend.

Consider the Apostle Paul, who having plenty of time to think while in prison, desired not only the Bible as his companion but good ole books...parchments. He writes to his young friend Timothy, "When you come, bring the cloak that I left in with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments" (II Timothy 4:13).

Desires & Reading the Bible

While I want to assure anyone reading this post applies to both genders, you can really tell that the Book of Proverbs was originally written from a man (father) to a man (son). I've been trying to meditate on Proverbs lately & I hadn't before realized how this large chunk of it (Chapters 5,6,7) is entirely dedicated to speaking to man's greatest day-to-day folly. It's not scheming, planning deceit, even jealousy, or egotism. It's really just base desire. (Not that desire is bad in and of itself -- more on that in a moment -- but a misplaced desire reeks havoc).

These chapters address the temptation and seduction of an adultress calling out to a man -- it even goes into the particulars with not a little steamy detail. Over the course of three chapters, the author moves from a real woman seducing to using the seductress as a symbol of foolishness/folly.

Any time I consider desires & passions, C.S Lewis' famous quote from his sermon The Weight of Glory comes to mind:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of the reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lor finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Lewis' point is a biblical one. When Jesus speaks of His Kingdom as the treasure hidden in the field or the pearl of Great price or of feasting at the Great Wedding Banquet to come -- all are analogies of making Him the object of our desires & passions.

Why am I bringing this up? Misplaced desires are the #1 reason people misread or misinterpret the Bible. Over the last couple months, I've encountered this in a few ways. First, the Lord has challenged me to check my misplaced desires at the door when reading His Word. Second, upon sharing a passage of Scripture that had a hard word or two in it, I heard it said, "Well, I guess that's why people have different interpretations of the Bible" (but left it at that).

Two guys talking about wealth. But the last situation was the most interesting to me. I have to say I am guilty of the sin of eavesdropping (is that a sin?? Chime in, I can always use a healthy rebuke). I was at the Christian Enlightenment Bookstore (if you don't live in Cayman, yes, that is the name and its our only Christian bookstore...I was however disappointed that the title didn't live up to its name -- unless you count a store still selling "WWJD" bracelets "enlightening"). Anywho, two guys were talking about whether God's desire was to bless each Christian $monetarily$. One was trying to justify that God does, in fact, want to do so but had conceded some points. Finally he said,

"It's hard. Most things in the New Testament talk about denying self, receiving treasures in heaven and that sort of thing. But then you read Proverbs and it talks about the righteous man getting wealth."

This was a fascinating and potentially insightful comment from which to learn on at least a couple levels, both of which I want to explore. First, he brings up a common confusion about Proverbs -- namely, that they are promises, which in fact they are not. Take for example Proverbs such as 13:22 - "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous." We all know plenty of examples where the good man gets swindled by the deceptive man. But we also know from experience that, generally speaking, such a 'sinner' generally gets caught up in his own web of deceit. My point is that here, the person was in honest need good tools to rightly interpret God's Word.

But when his friend pressed him saying, "Do you really believe that [that there is a contradiction in Scripture] or do you just want it to be true?", he then relented a little: "There's definitely some of that there too."

Which leads my second point: Misunderstanding or Misinterpreting God's Word is primarily a matter of misplaced, sinful desire. Jim Petersen, International VP for Navigator's Ministry, is right on when he says:

Have you ever noticed how the Scriptures point out that false teachings or false doctrines aren't the result of someone's honest mistake in interpreting the Scriptures? Rather they are elaborate creations for the sake of satisfying someone's sinful desire.

Hence the Apostle Paul says in II Timothy 4:3 (NLT): "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear."

Be honest for a moment. Has the misplaced desire for peace (a.k.a. "the path of least resistance") affected how you read the Bible? So you don't want your interpretation to cause strife among you and your spouse, with your homies and homettes, or at your workplace. Hey, I get it -- especially if a plain reading of Scripture goes against the culture & society in which we we dwell. Has the misplaced desire to please yourself made you go to verses about freedom, grace & mercy while avoiding reading the rest of the passage that talks about the serious offense of sin and not using your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Has the misplaced desire of elevating self affected how you view your role in the Body of Christ its portrayed in Scripture?

Next time you want to Rightly Understand & Interpret God's Word -- you'll still want to purchase a good study Bible (like the NIV Study Bible at, ironically, the Christian Enllightenment Bookstore) and you'll still want to ask good questions, read a passage in its context (but that's a separate post - see loveintruth.com for great tips here).

But perhaps the most important strategy we must employ when reading Scripture is asking the Holy Spirit to root out of us misplaced desires. To confess those desires, go to the cross & receive forgiveness from Him whose hand provides pleasures evermore (Psalm 16:11). Then idols of misplaced pleasure fall like a house of cards & we begin to delight in rightly understanding and rightly living out the Word at any cost because He becomes the object of our greatest delight.